Twilight continued to watch Mac as he slept in the cloud across from her: she couldn’t help but sense that there was something… amiss about him. Other than his missing mark, and the fact that he suddenly hardly remembered anything before today. He just seemed so… out of place. Could he be Starlight Glimmer in disguise? Could she have kidnapped him, and taken his place? Is that why the Map showed his mark as well, floating over the outskirts of Ponyville?

She put it in the back of her mind for now, adjusted the satchel on her back, and glided down to the ground: where her friends were waiting. “Anyone still up for the concert tonight?” she asked, looking around the group.

“I… I think I’ll stay behind, just to make sure Mac doesn’t roll off that cloud.” Myra offered.

Twilight nodded. "Good idea," she stated, "if he really is suffering from memory loss: he should get all the rest he can. But if he does wake up, see if you can restore his memory."

The Pegasus nodded, and was about to take off when Twilight spoke up again:

"Oh! I almost forgot! Here's that book you wanted!" She called, levitating her copy of Painted Wind towards her friend.

Myra collected the tome with a thankful nod, and flew up to the cloud.

“Figures she’s the one to go,” Rainbow chuckled cheekily.

“Oh, knock it off, Dash!” Twilight scolded. “You hang with them the most out of all of us! You of all ponies should know that they aren’t-”

“I know, I know. I’m just teasing.” Rainbow said defensively, throwing up her hooves in mock surrender. “You girls get away with it just fine! Why can’t I?”

“I’ll just go keep my sister company, if that's alright.” Fluttershy stated quietly, before taking off after Myra.

"Well," Twilight sighed, “I guess that leaves our group with me, Rarity, you, Pink- where’s Pinkie Pie?”

“She went to help the Cakes clean up a while back.”  Applejack answered.

As if on cue, a bright blur raced in front of them, screaming: “I’ll meet you later!"

Rarity looked around at the remaining three thoughtfully. “Tea at my boutique in the meantime?” she offered.

Twilight extended a hoof with an eager smile, hardly being able to wait to taste her friend’s famous tea again: “Deal!”

“I’m not really a ‘Tea’ mare,” Rainbow shrugged, “but I’ll give it a try this once!”

The other three collectively rolled their eyes.

When they all had sat themselves in the kitchen, and had been served some of Rarity’s tea, the four friends took to discussing their latest drama. For the four had barely started drinking when Rarity spoke up once again: “Is it just me, or has there been a different… err... aura surrounding Mac since he returned?”

Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “I thought I was the only one who noticed.” She said, “Why do you think that is?”

“I don’t know, he just seems… misplaced.” Rarity said thoughtfully. "Do you think it might have something to do with his mark?"

"Maybe..." Twilight puzzled. “At least, I think it might be a side effect of whatever happened to his mark. It’s hard to explain, and I can’t find a better word for it, but it seems like he doesn’t belong here.”

Twilight levitated a large, blue book from her satchel: “I'm hoping that this book on personal energies might offer an explanation."

“Egghead alert,” Rainbow whispered to Applejack, getting a quiet guffaw in response. Twilight glared at the two, but proceeded to open the book with an eager smile anyway.

“Ignore me, I’ll just be researching.” She offered as she practically dove into the book.

“We usually do when you go into ‘The Twilight Zone’.” Rainbow snorted. The Princess just gave a satisfied nod, already too focused to realize what her friend just said.

“Let us know if you find any excerpts you find useful!” Rarity chirped.

“I was planning on it!” Twilight confirmed, placing her nose back between the covers.

After about an hour of research on the matter, and interrupting the others' conversations: Twilight got them each to agree on four auras that all described effects similar to what they 'felt' around Mac.

“Okay,” Twilight started: “we’re down to Black Memory, Molecular Transport, Time Travel, and Dimensional Lock.”

“Well, Ah’d rule out time travel and that moleca-whoosit, seeing as how he ain’t a Unicorn.” Applejack stated, pointing at the crests on the heads of both depictions.

“Fair enough,” Rarity concurred, studying the other two with an eye trained for detail: “and these ones affect all races.”

Twilight studied the remaining diagrams with agonizing focus. “I think we can rule out Dimensional Lock,” she finally stated, pointing at the depiction of a Pony hurtling through a maze of spirals. “It only lasts for two minutes, and it only applies to interdimensional travel. The Mirror only opens once every three thousand years. And the natural occurrences happen even less often!”

“That leaves Black Memory.” Rainbow said. “What is that?”

“It says it’s a curse that was cast by the old Nightmare Priests in the Everfree.” Twilight stated with concern. “When someone found out something about them that they weren’t supposed to- which was practically anything outside of ‘evil and scary’- the Priests cursed them, and remove mostly all their memory.”

“Well, that would explain quite a few things.” Rarity sighed.

“It would, if the Nightmare Priests hadn't died off hundreds of years ago!” Twilight grunted in frustration.

“But, he did say he was sent to the Western Outlands, where the majority of the Nightmare Worshipers congregated.” Applejack offered.

“By the way, Darling, how did you even attain that book on such short notice?” Rarity puzzled, setting her saucer on the table.

“Coincidence, mostly,” Twilight shrugged, “I was going to have Spike return this book to Celestia in the morning.”

Rarity lifted an eyebrow. “How… convenient?” she offered.

“I know, right? It seems like our whole lives can be described in one word.” Twilight chuckled.

“Y’mean boring?” Rainbow interjected, staring into her cup with a dulled expression.

“No, convenient.”

After seeing how well her friends were doing, and taking the Cake’s trash to the dump: Pinkie Pie decided to see if she could help Mr. and Mrs. Cake out in any more ways. Maybe she'd help with the baking, stir some coffee… sample tomorrow's pudding.

“Pudding….” She uttered in an excited, drawn-out, zombie-like tone. She was becoming more enthralled by that delicious pudding each working day, even to the point where she accepted twenty bits, and then ten bits’ worth of pudding for payment at the end of each day. She swore he would never, ever, ever doubt the Cakes’ cooking abilities again.

It was then that she noticed the night air seemed to have a peculiar smell to it: as if there had been a rotting roadkill hidden in the corner of town. No one else was outdoors at this time besides her, and it was very apparent why once her knee pinched.

Once, twice, thrice: three pinches in a row. Something bad was about to happen, and very soon. Next thing she knew, her entire body was vibrating intensely.

“Oh… dear…”

The pink pony was approaching Sugarcube Corner when she noticed that the strange smell was emanating from a nearby alley. Being the curious filly that she was, and after those twitchy episodes, she went closer to investigate: guard up. What she saw in the alley made her blood freeze:

A large, dark green circle: oozing lime colored steam like a sickly smoke, stood out like an ugly blister on the otherwise symmetrical pavement. And a strange, unfamiliar symbol was shining at its center.

“Dormancy term ending, reissuing the Black One.” Rasped a voice. It was barely more than a whisper to Pinkie's ears, yet it set the fur on her back on end. The very sound of it sent shudders of fear down Pinkie’s spine, and awakened something he never knew she could possess: Hatred.

A tall, black-mantled shape rose out of the pavement within the circle: treating the cement as if it were mere water. Pinkie guessed there was a living thing hidden within the cloak, but she couldn’t see anything underneath. Then two eyes- at least, she assumed those… fiery… things were supposed to be eyes- opened up like two windows into Tartarus itself.

They ‘stared’ at her for a moment, the fire in the eyes wavering as the cold air turned the creature's breath to mist. The being produced what looked like an iron quill from inside his cloak, and rushed her with a hollow screech.

Next thing Pinkie knew, she was waking up in her room, just like she would any other morning: a bright sunrise greeted her from the window, and the birds were twittering on the outside.

“That was… quite the dream!” she sighed, rubbing her temple.

She was still trying to convince himself that it was indeed just a dream when she heard Mr. Cake call for her from the kitchen. She stood up, brushed her hair into the usual curls, and tied on her apron. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were patiently waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, with broad grins on their faces.

“It’s Half-Price Day!” They called in unison, holding up a tray of pretzels and cupcakes. This would usually get an intense reaction from the hyperactive pony, but all she offered at the moment was a decent smile.

When she took her position at the counter, the first ponies through the door were her best friends: the other bearers of the Elements.

“Are you doing alright there, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked with some concern. “We didn’t see you at the boutique last night, and you missed the concert: so we figured we’d check in on ya, after what happened last night.”

“I’m alright, I guess.” Pinkie assured, hoping to calm her friends.

“She came in last night, and went straight on up to her bed, the poor dear.” Mrs. Cake called from the kitchen. “She seemed quite pooped.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second!” Rainbow scoffed. "Pinkie Pie. Pinkie. Pie. Was tired? Our Pinkie Pie: out of energy? I’m not buying it!”

“It happens more often than you’d think, dearie,” The Mr. Cake chuckled, stepping out from the back. He brushed some powder from his hooves onto his apron, and set another tray of cupcakes into the display case under the counter.

“Yup,” he sighed, picking up an icing tube from one of the tables: “she may still act hyper, but she’s usually pooped out once the night hours hit. Trust me.”

Rarity lifted a hand to tap her chin: “That would explain how she falls asleep so fast…”

“Maybe,” Twilight said slowly, turning back to Pinkie, “but are you sure you’re alright? I wouldn’t consider myself a friend of yours if I didn’t make sure.”

Pinkie opened her mouth, and then quickly shut it again. She still wasn’t convinced that it was wise to tell them of her dream. She wasn't even sure if it was a dream! She didn’t remember going to bed, after all.

“I… did have a weird dream last night…” she said, unsure of how to explain it all. The speed at which that sentence was spoken captured the attention of all, being unusually slow for her.

“And I don’t remember going to bed…”

That caused some worry: though she might have been tired, Pinkie never forgot anything. She kept tabs on almost everything that happened in town, and if it was none of her- or anypony’s –business: she burned the file. That she had forgotten something even as simple as going to bed was nigh on inconceivable.

“Tell us about this dream you had,” Twilight said, ushering their friend to a nearby booth, “I’m sure we might get some answers from that.”

Pinkie opened her mouth, and then froze: something finally clicked about what Applejack had said when she walked in.

“Wait a minute!” She cried, pushing her snout into the purple Alicorn’s face: “What happened last night?!” Next Chapter: Chapter Four: An Unforeseen Incident. Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 35 Minutes